From Bangalore to Austin

I am back in Austin. I left Bangalore at 7 PM on Sunday, and landed in Austin at 10:30 PM on Wednesday. Almost 90 hours in transit. In these 90 hours, I changed 6 planes, saw 7 airports in 4 countries, and saw three cities. Phew…

When the captain in the flight from Hyderabad to Amsterdam announced that there was an engine failure, I was, for once, really excited that maybe, just maybe, he would land in the sea or something – am sure very few people can boast of an experience like that. Unfortunately, we landed safely in Athens. Pretty landscape, I must say, Athens has.

What bothered me in Athens was the treatment meted out to people with passports from different countries. American and European passports were allowed to go out of the airport, while Indian passports had to stay in a restricted area in the airport.

Similarly in Amsterdam, Americans and Europeans got their visa within minutes, while Indians had to wait for almost 3 hours. By the time I got my visa, it was close to midnight, so I really didn’t get to see much of the city. And I had to be at the airport early morning, so I just walked a little around the airport. Amsterdam also seemed pretty. Interesting were the water bodies all over the place. Also interesting were the full-page advertisements on female companions for business executives – something like the IBM on-demand ad. The oldest profession never had such polish – even in Vegas!!

The flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis was a noon flight – as in, it was noon all through. We started at 11 AM in Amsterdam, and landed in Minneapolis at 12:30 PM. The sun was almost exactly at the same place throughout the 8-hour flight. Also, pretty was the white landscape of Northern Canada, and partly Greenland, that the plane flew over. I was happy to get a window seat for this part of the journey.

Landed to a nice minus 8 degree, sunny weather in Minneapolis – and was all set working. Surprisingly, this time around, jet lag din’t seem to bother me. Maybe because I slept in Amsterdam.

Lots of interesting stuff I noted on my journey – will keep posting as and when I get time. For now, back to work. Ohhh before I forget, I am driving a brand new blood red Ford Fusion in Austin – one cool car it is – and yes, this time I don’t even have an original license – or whatever I had! :-)

Headed back

This blog will get active again. I am heading back to the US for another couple of weeks.

Ego and possesiveness

On the flight from Paris to Delhi, I got a seat next to an Afro-American couple. They were going on a 10-day visit to India. The trip came about when one of their Indian colleagues invited them to his marriage in Gujarat. They grabbed the opportunity and planned a trip across India - Delhi, Agra, Gujarat, Mumbai and Goa (in that order). It was so good talking to them. I don't think I have ever so passionately described India. To the extent that I gave them my number asking to call in case they need anything - anytime during their trip here, regardless of the place. I felt like owning the entire country. I guess that is the difference between India and any other place. I own this place. Its about possession. and it feels good.

The desire to be belonged is amongst the basic needs of man. Man is a megalomaniac. Considering himself as the center of the universe, each object in the universe is associated with him - some close, some not so close. The closer ones are from the man's solar system - man being the sun. The revolving planets include living objects such as family, friends, love-interest etc., as well as non-living objects as material possessions, land, etc. Larger the mass (read ego) of the sun (individual), greater is the force binding the planets to it. Thus says one of Newton's laws. So the egoless state is equivalent to the sun standing on its own (without surrounding planets). So the number of compelling planets a person has reflects directly on the size of the ego of the person. Lower the ego, fewer the possessions.

So this can be an interesting metric to measure the size of the ego of an individual. Just observe the extent of possessiveness of that individual with respect to people, places, and material goods.

PS: If you observe, I have chosen to be politically incorrect by not using her/him, or woman/man, and preferred to keep it as him and man. Please correct!

Shenanigans

This week was busy. Yes, I have finally managed to get my self busy with work - office work. Not bad for a change.

I am headed back to India tomorrow. Sameer asked me whether I could stay back for some more time. I said no. For once I wanted to get back to India. When the immigirant officer at the Atlanta airport stamped Feb 8 as the return date, I was kind of unsure, and would have preferred a 3-month time frame. Today, I was kind of thankful that he din't give me time to extend my stay. I'd rather go to India and come back again after a couple of months than stay here for extended periods of time. Goes back to the point about transient nature of feelings,thoughts, everything for that matter. Who knows, what I would think once back home!!

PS: why is this blog called shenanigans? - coz I learnt this word today, and I kind of liked it. We were talking about Indian women, and how they differed from their American counterparts. Someone made a comment of them being more accomodating, which another person simply rejected as shenanigans!!